Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1887-11-01
The Confederate Army

I" You are away off in your notions
about the Confederates in the army"
said member of n Georgia regiment
the other day. L can show you chat
they were very few indeed compared
with the federals. How many actual
men do You suppose there were in the
Confederate army, not counting dout
! BILE enlistmentsH H' .ug ,,tf7, q ~
"Oh, million or two -.
"It would crowd 'em TO 60 much
over half million. You can see by
the census that all the white people
in, the Confederate, States in 1861
were no more than $3.50, 600 at the
outside. Now. what is the biggest
per cent. of its population that d
country can send to war? / helieye
no country in the world ever sent one
in seven; and, situated as the South
was-a big territory and 1000, ,O0G
slavesAit couldn't have sent one in
eight. .o -s-.rs.,y Il .f.sI.t,7
ts But did not your close conscrip7
ton get more than eight?''1 q :, =
a Close CONSUMPTION where?l When
that was enforced ope-half the Com
federate territory was in the federal
lines-all Tennessee, half of Missis-
sippi, part of Virginia and Ala
hama, most of Louisiana and all the
three States west of the Missis-
l.sinniaHKene znle.ar4 nnt of hnr=-i4f-tAs7ic-
tion. In fact, the last CONSUMPTION,
the searching one. was only enforced
in five States. The law exempted
men who worked twenty slaves, and
of course, men had to be left at home
to run ferries, railroads, etc. There
is no way of getting all the able. bod
led men of country into an army.
You must have some men to hold the
machinery of society together
Now, divide all the Write people in
the Confederacy by eight and you
would have $4,000, and that's about
100, 900 more than ever were; in the
Confederate army. Suppose they
got every man who could carry q
gun, they would only have 100000!
Now, the Federal muster rolls show
that they had 335, 900 white men
from the South, so where could the
Confederacy have got the extra
men? Six different armies surrent
dered, and all the paroles together
amounted to 5,45f. Now, add just
as many more for guerrillas and prisE
oners in the North, and you have but
| 100, 900 and then ndd another 10o,-
| 600 or more for deserters who did
not come in for paroles, and still You
haven SOC, 900 Confederate soldiers
at the end of the war But, in fact,
no 100, 900 failed to get paroles' for
we all thought it was big pr6tsbtibtt
to have a parole. Add all that tIhmi
ber, though, if you like, and then
add 800, 900 lost in the war (and
that's more than anybody claimsJ
and You have then but COG, ,000.--
My own guess is that the GonfederaE
cy had, not counting ,do1ble enlist
ments, about $50, 900 5ctdal men in
arms from first to last, and that over
300, 900 of them outiasted the war.
'' The boys in gray died faster
after the war than the boys in blue;
They averaged ten years older for
one thing, and then they didn't have
good medicines when they got sick
in the army, and they were mighty
poor for a long time after they went
home. Yes, / reckon nigh to two
thirds of the survivors are now gone.
am positive there are not in all the
world to-day 10000 Confederate
soldiers alive, and of them not more
than 100000 in the South-not more
than one in hundred of the whole
poDufation there" -.E